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Anticipating Fireworks May Frighten A Puppy


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July 4th fireworks are only 11 days away, and we expect our puppy in the next week or so. Do puppy earmuffs exist? If we had more time, we might be able to work on desensitizing the puppy to loud noises. I just don't know if we will have time. I appreciate any advice.

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I found that with my two, they followed my boarder collies reaction...she was deaf and couldn't hear them. :) Interesting. We'll see what happens this year with out Bougie. She was a wise old gal. Miss her lots. :(

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We have two Yorkies, one who shakes uncontrollably and yelps with loud thunder claps and firework booms. The other is not phased in the least by loud noises. I also have three ferrets...the blue eyed, white one is deaf and a very relaxed, cool dude. We will definitely avoid the large firework celebrations.

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Ferrets eh? Better think about that one. Maybe some folks with chickens and other "delicious" pack members can comment.

 

You can get some doggie Valium from the vet for the one yorkie and help the pup queue off of the other dog and you. You can yawn (a calming signal) and stretch during the noise to show the pup "meh, no big deal".

 

The best inoculation is exposure. We took Waki out and showed him chainsaw work and tractor work. He sat on my lap and had treats for the first introduction. Now he thinks chainsaw or tractor noise means great fun. Back when Shiva was a pup we took him to fireworks. He sat among hundreds of people and enjoyed the ambiance. These days at 10 he may talk back to the fireworks for daring to interrupt his sleep. If you can, put the pup in a back pack our baby pouch and go. Sit under the stars. Probably you will still be in quarantine though.

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Hey one more thought. Having the pup on your body before and during the scary event is powerful. Let the little one decide when to leave the safety of your body. I used that with the tractor and the chainsaw.

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Great idea. It's like Kangaroo Care with a premature baby! I love it. I shouldn't anticipate a negative reaction to the fireworks; that may actually trigger a fearful reaction. Now I just need to find a puppy pouch! I can rig one up pretty easily. Thank you for the great suggestion.

 

Yes, three ferrets. One of our Yorkie's (Angel) loves playing with them. Gently. She knows they are part of our pack & enjoys sticking her head into their 20 foot long clear tube & making the little one play keep away. Have you ever seen a ferret wag it's tail? I'll try to get a video & post the link. Our other yorkie, Chewy, knows the ferrets are part of her pack but REFUSES to like it! Little Diva dog. She's pretty, but not very playful (or intelligent). She reminds me of an aloof cat that only plays when she feels like it.

 

Liking the ferrets was one deal breaking criteria with letting my daughter get a dog. She reminds everyone in the family that it's HER dog. I haven't convinced her that the puppy will be part of our entire pack yet. She is so excited!

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I have one dog who is really frightened by the noise, and one who is not phased in the least. I let the one hide in a place, with his pillow, and put the radio on for him. He does very well that way. I waited too long before I tried benedryl, but it did make a huge difference. Cut the edge off. So after two times of that, he is not so scared, and can wait it out, without drooling and shivering with fright. Poor guy. Look up the thunder shirt, too.

 

My parrot loves the lights. She comments, "Oooh...Ahhhhh".

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Thanks for posting this so close to the 4th. It got me on the phone with the vet - our Danza has been very anxious lately, freaking out over rain on the roof and other inescapable things. She's got a prescription for an anti-anxiety med, and they want us to start her on it on the 3rd so she's calm when they start (which could be any day now.) Unfortunately, the medication has very little effect on her, but we are hoping that getting her in a calm state before the noise gets bad will help her once it does.

 

I hate to dope her up for two days, but she's recently peed on our bed twice, both times when she was really scared. So for now she can't go into our room alone, and it's her favorite, safest spot in the house. I'll let her have limited room privileges today or tomorrow and see how it goes - I'd love her to be able to hide in there if she wants.

 

Sometimes she just has bad phases, when every little thing sets her off and she gets desperate (which is when she pees in the house). I never feel as if I can adequately help her.

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Have you ever tried calming drops? The lady that runs the kennel we use swears by them. I can find out what brand if you like.

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Are you talking about Bach's Flower Remedy? I'm very skeptical of that, but I don't think they are harmful so it probably wouldn't hurt to try.

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Man! I am so glad Mina taught my other two that it is no big deal. She actually enjoyed going out and watching.. weird dog.

We also hang out at SCA events (black powder blunderbusses and cannons...) and our neighborhood looks for any excuse to be explosially noisy. So they are kind of used to it anyways.

(yes, I know 'explosially' is not really a word, but it sounded good.. :P)

 

I would look for my local shooting range, and incrementally decrease the distance and use REALLY Good Treats.. and help the dog/s associate the sharp noise with yummies. That is our usual SOP. Works every time. Doesn't hurt for them to be good and tired beforehand also.

 

Just my $.02

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That's a good plan. My dog is great with redirection, it would have to help. Not with rain, though.

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Karen- my kids enjoy going to the park to play, so if they are afraid of something 'regular' I make it part of the play routine.

Scary things happens, then we get to go play. Soon they anticipate fun coming from the scary thing. :)

Maybe play ball with Danza, in the rain, so she can anticipate the fun from the scary rain-on-roof sound?

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I should mention - she is not an anxious dog when she is outside. I've never articulated that to myself, it gives me some great ideas.

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So the fourth of July has come and gone.......there were a few of "bangs" in my neighborhood, but not many. I think everyone was aware of the extreme fire danger in this neck of the woods. When the fire works went off, my pups barked as if protecting the old homestead. No one dove for cover, no shaking, no hiding in the closet. All in all things went pretty well. So what went on in your corner of the world? I hope it went well for everyone.

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All was well here. One of the nice things about old dogs is that they start to sleep a lot so since the big dogs were sleeping the little one decided it was OK to sleep too. We had the windows open last night and even though someone was having a private fireworks party somewhere close by, after some initial alerting all were sleeping.

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Our neighborhood is infamous for the July 4 noise - it starts a few days early, ends a few days late, and is crazy on the 4th. There is a large family upstream from us, on the lake the feeds our creek, who love fireworks. The cracks echo across the lake and through the valley.

 

After talking to the vet, we decided to slightly medicate Danza on the third and give her a bigger dose on the afternoon of the 4th. That way she wouldn't have cause to work herself up into a state before the big event.

 

It worked like a charm, see for yourself. (Danza is wearing her Thundershirt) :)

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When she was doped up I felt terrible, like I had hit her over the head with a hammer. But later that night I really felt like it was justified, she was totally fine the next day, and she seemed to get over some of her fear to boot! Yesterday's bangs didn't phase her.

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Karen I am so glad this worked. Miss Tara has had issues in the past with kenneling. We think of the doggie Valium as getting ahead of the painful for all brain chemistry and preventing it. I might add that she doesn't need it any more.

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Mina's pretraining of our two younger kids paid off. (Thank you sweet girl)

They both tried to sleep through, with some disgruntled moans and sighs during the loudest parts. Was actually kind of funny.

Hubby had it worst. Retired army... :(

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Danza had a great role model, but it didn't help.

 

Since the 4th there have been a few more big bangs and she didn't really react. Once she stood up and looked at me, but that was it. Maybe the 'intervention' will have long-term effects.

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Karen- I would be so glad for her if she could learn from her intervention.

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Karen- I would be so glad for her if she could learn from her intervention.

 

Thanks Star. Me, too. I wonder how Snake is doing - I think of him sometimes.

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